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Blizzard
Blizzard is based on John Rocco's childhood experience during the now infamous Blizzard of 1978, which brought 53 inches of snow to his town in Rhode Island.
Told with a brief text and dynamic illustrations, the book opens with a boy's excitement upon seeing the first snowflake fall outside his classroom window. It ends with the neighborhood's immense relief upon seeing the first snowplow break through on their street. In between the boy watches his familiar landscape transform into something alien, and readers watch him transform into a hero who puts the needs of others first.
Told with a brief text and dynamic illustrations, the book opens with a boy's excitement upon seeing the first snowflake fall outside his classroom window. It ends with the neighborhood's immense relief upon seeing the first snowplow break through on their street. In between the boy watches his familiar landscape transform into something alien, and readers watch him transform into a hero who puts the needs of others first.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published October 28, 2014
5 people are currently reading
934 people want to read
About the author
John Rocco
73 books137 followersRocco studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design and School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is the author of four acclaimed books for children: Wolf! Wolf!, winner of the Borders Original Voices Award for best picture book; Moonpowder, part of the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators; Fu Finds the Way, and Blackout, a New York Times Best Book of the Year and winner of a 2012 Caldecott Honor. Rocco also illustrated Whoopi Goldberg‘s Alice and the covers for Rick Riordan‘s multi-million copy internationally bestselling series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Kane Chronicles, and The Heroes of Olympus. Most recently, Rocco illustrated the fantasy fairy tale, The Flint Heart, written by Katherine Paterson and her husband, John.
me with samFor many years Rocco has been an art director in the entertainment industry, both in the US and abroad. At Dreamworks, Rocco was the pre-production art director on the top-grossing animated film Shrek. For Walt Disney Imagineering, he designed attractions at Disney’s Epcot and served as art director for DisneyQuest, a virtual reality theme park in Downtown Disney. Rocco has worked with computer graphics pioneer Robert Abel, the creator of some of the first CGI commercials and special effects, and contributed to several museum projects including Newseum in Washington D.C. and Paul Allen‘s Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame.
Rocco lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Aileen and their daughter, Alaya.
me with samFor many years Rocco has been an art director in the entertainment industry, both in the US and abroad. At Dreamworks, Rocco was the pre-production art director on the top-grossing animated film Shrek. For Walt Disney Imagineering, he designed attractions at Disney’s Epcot and served as art director for DisneyQuest, a virtual reality theme park in Downtown Disney. Rocco has worked with computer graphics pioneer Robert Abel, the creator of some of the first CGI commercials and special effects, and contributed to several museum projects including Newseum in Washington D.C. and Paul Allen‘s Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame.
Rocco lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Aileen and their daughter, Alaya.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 420 reviews
January 27, 2020
I love being snowed in and I have been through one 3 foot snow, but it melted in like a day. It was disappointing. I had a 2 foot snow in MI one year. This story came out of the authors memories of a 4 foot blizzard in New England in 1978. I would love to experience something like this once. It’s a whole different kind of world when there is that much snow. We are having a heat wave right now and it’s simply making me feel irritable. I am going to have to move back up north where there is colder weather. It’s just too warm here. So this cold book was balm for my soul.
A blizzard hits and for 5 days this family is snowed in. The plows haven’t come and they can’t even walk to the store. They begin to run out of food, so the youngest boy puts tennis rackets on his feet and makes a journey to the store, asking neighbors what they need. This was just what I needed and I loved this.
The artwork is lovely and there is a full page pull out in the middle so we can see everywhere the boy went, which is fun.
The nephew agreed with me that this was cool. He would love to tunnel under the snow and make a fort like they do and he loves making snow men. He said that he would be able to go to the store for us if we needed. (I’m sure he’d bring back candy and hot dogs) We had fun reading this and dreaming of snow fun. I would make some snow cream. He gave this 4 stars.
A blizzard hits and for 5 days this family is snowed in. The plows haven’t come and they can’t even walk to the store. They begin to run out of food, so the youngest boy puts tennis rackets on his feet and makes a journey to the store, asking neighbors what they need. This was just what I needed and I loved this.
The artwork is lovely and there is a full page pull out in the middle so we can see everywhere the boy went, which is fun.
The nephew agreed with me that this was cool. He would love to tunnel under the snow and make a fort like they do and he loves making snow men. He said that he would be able to go to the store for us if we needed. (I’m sure he’d bring back candy and hot dogs) We had fun reading this and dreaming of snow fun. I would make some snow cream. He gave this 4 stars.
March 20, 2015
Blizzard by John Rocco is based on the Blizzard of ’78, but when I spotted this cover from across the room my first thought was—“Hey! They made a book about my winter already?!” :D
New England was hit with snow upon snow upon snow this winter, but it still can’t compete with the events of 1978. This is John Rocco’s story as a 10 year old boy living and surviving the Blizzard of '78.
A warm story for a cold time. Sharing, teamwork, and community shine in this book. I adored it!
The fold out map of the neighborhood was my nephew’s favorite part. He traced the route and footsteps all around and back again.
A sweet read that captures a storm in pictures and words and hot cocoa. :)
February 28, 2015
For those who know me, the coveted 5 star rating comes to this book because it turns on the memory machine of a "little girl in 1978" when the blizzard didn't just hit new England, but I think the whole country. It certainly hit the Midwest and with it came experiences we children had not experienced as farm kids. What I remember most is seeing my non-church going father be a true Christian to men trying to get home from work, and seeing our home as a beacon in the night. My dad let them in, let them stay the night until someone could come get them, warmed them in the kitchen with the stove and some whiskey and we children "were not to go near 'em." ha!
Those were great times. Perhaps I'll write my own memory.
Those were great times. Perhaps I'll write my own memory.
December 15, 2018
Now perhaps I am truly and simply just in a bit of a foul or curmudgeonly mood this morning, but be that as it may, and although I can and do definitely appreciate the general premiss and storyline of John Rocco's Blizzard (especially since it is supposedly also based on his own childhood experiences during the so-called Blizzard of 1978), I have actually not really all that much enjoyed either his narrative or accompanying illustrations.
For one (and I do well realise that I am more than likely being much too nit-picking and perhaps even just a trifle anally retentive here), the entire scenario of a true and possible threat from starvation feels in my opinion rather overly exaggerated in Blizzard since fortunately, the neighbourhood obviously never appears to have lost hydroelectric power, has had no water pipes freeze and break and also still seems to have heat for their houses. And really, one can easily survive with little to no food for considerably longer than with no water, and while I do appreciate how the little boy takes his sled and makes his way to the corner store in order to purchase necessary supplies for both his family and his neighbours, I do think that the entire potential danger, danger, danger mantra is more than a bit over-done (not to mention that I also find it quite strange if not problematic that the little boy's family does not phone the local corner store before he sets out on his trek to make sure that the store in question is actually even open for business and has the required groceries etc. available).
And for two, while John Rocco's pictorial images of snow and ice I have indeed found visually appealing enough, his illustrations of human figures are (or at least feel) a bit too cartoon like and flatly unemotional to and for my personal aesthetic tastes, with the end-result that I just have not found the combination of text and images as featured and presented in Blizzard all that pleasurable and therefore also not all that readable and memorable either (a sweet and to a point even engaging little tale, with certainly some good and important messages regarding helpfulness, resourcefulness and being considerate to one's neighbours in times of weather related or in fact any types of stress and difficulty, but from a personal reading as well as viewing pleasure point of departure, I simply have not found Blizzard interesting, believable and evocative enough to consider more than two stars, a high two and a half star rating, for sure, but not yet in any manner enough for three stars).
For one (and I do well realise that I am more than likely being much too nit-picking and perhaps even just a trifle anally retentive here), the entire scenario of a true and possible threat from starvation feels in my opinion rather overly exaggerated in Blizzard since fortunately, the neighbourhood obviously never appears to have lost hydroelectric power, has had no water pipes freeze and break and also still seems to have heat for their houses. And really, one can easily survive with little to no food for considerably longer than with no water, and while I do appreciate how the little boy takes his sled and makes his way to the corner store in order to purchase necessary supplies for both his family and his neighbours, I do think that the entire potential danger, danger, danger mantra is more than a bit over-done (not to mention that I also find it quite strange if not problematic that the little boy's family does not phone the local corner store before he sets out on his trek to make sure that the store in question is actually even open for business and has the required groceries etc. available).
And for two, while John Rocco's pictorial images of snow and ice I have indeed found visually appealing enough, his illustrations of human figures are (or at least feel) a bit too cartoon like and flatly unemotional to and for my personal aesthetic tastes, with the end-result that I just have not found the combination of text and images as featured and presented in Blizzard all that pleasurable and therefore also not all that readable and memorable either (a sweet and to a point even engaging little tale, with certainly some good and important messages regarding helpfulness, resourcefulness and being considerate to one's neighbours in times of weather related or in fact any types of stress and difficulty, but from a personal reading as well as viewing pleasure point of departure, I simply have not found Blizzard interesting, believable and evocative enough to consider more than two stars, a high two and a half star rating, for sure, but not yet in any manner enough for three stars).
December 22, 2014
Rocco is inspiring me to think about which picture book author/illustrators are guaranteed must read creators. This guy does no wrong in my world. A title full of different things for different readers - nostalgia for a different, simpler time, adventure imagined, celebration of family and neighbourhood and just plain wow of winter and weather.
December 8, 2018
I thought this was wonderful and it was my five-year-old's favorite out of the many books about snow and winter we brought home from the library. I think because the child gets to be the hero here. I love books like that, too. Love how young John was reading the "Arctic Survival" book all along and knew just what to do when the time came ;-) Loved the little details (my kids love the cat "meowing" when she finally gets her cat food delivery!) and how the days of the week are tucked into the illustrations. Love the pull-out map with the boy's snowy journey to the market and all his stops along the way. The expressions are great (the teacher looking out at the early snowflakes--I can just hear her thoughts!) and little details are just fun (like the STOP sign almost covered with snow and the boy wondering if the snow would ever "STOP") It's one we've read several times since we borrowed it from the library.
December 2, 2018
Such detail in the pictures, right from the start look at the expressions on the kids' faces. The art and the character triumph... and so does the book, imo. To learn from the author's note that it's a memoir makes my fourth star solid.
December 31, 2025
I loved this book! It brought back so many memories of my childhood getting snowed in and waiting for the snow plow. Such a great story.
I think I will have to read this every winter. I liked it just as much this time and can't wait to read it again. I wish I could keep it longer but the library says there is a wait list for it.
I think I will have to read this every winter. I liked it just as much this time and can't wait to read it again. I wish I could keep it longer but the library says there is a wait list for it.
December 27, 2014
I remember this blizzard! So cool that John Rocco wrote about it! I know my students will love this book!
January 2, 2018
Fun read aloud by Dad tonight. As we read, we compared the stories of the kids’ grandpa growing up in Wyoming. He had similar experiences. Loved the double fold-out page.
November 4, 2015
A few words from the author extracted from the book:
"On Monday, February 6, 1978, New England experienced one of the biggest snowstorms in its history, It snowed for two days, and by the time it stopped, parts of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut were buried under forty inches of snow.(...) The wind was blowing fifty miles an hour and created snowdrifts up to fifteen feet high. Where I grew up in Rhode Island, it took over a week for snowplows to get to our street. This book is based on my experience as a ten-year-old boy in that blizzard and how I got to the store, over a mile from my house, with tennis rackets tied to my feet."
The pictures push us into the story. The text makes us feel into the book. We wanted to play in the snow. We smelled the hot chocolate. We felt desperate when the snowplows wouldn't show up. We sheered John in his journey, and booed when it was time to come back to school. Highly recommended!
Age range: 4 to 8 years old.
Check out more children's book reviews in my Reviews in Chalk Blog!
"On Monday, February 6, 1978, New England experienced one of the biggest snowstorms in its history, It snowed for two days, and by the time it stopped, parts of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut were buried under forty inches of snow.(...) The wind was blowing fifty miles an hour and created snowdrifts up to fifteen feet high. Where I grew up in Rhode Island, it took over a week for snowplows to get to our street. This book is based on my experience as a ten-year-old boy in that blizzard and how I got to the store, over a mile from my house, with tennis rackets tied to my feet."
The pictures push us into the story. The text makes us feel into the book. We wanted to play in the snow. We smelled the hot chocolate. We felt desperate when the snowplows wouldn't show up. We sheered John in his journey, and booed when it was time to come back to school. Highly recommended!
Age range: 4 to 8 years old.
Check out more children's book reviews in my Reviews in Chalk Blog!
January 11, 2019
Part of a winter themed story time I attended with my 2 year old. Interesting story recounting the author's experience as a kid during the blizzard of 1978. On a side note, it was clear to me that this wasn't taking place in KY because they would have been well stocked with bread and milk before the blizzard actually hit! :)
February 11, 2019
I enjoyed the illustrations and the factual story based on the author’s childhood memories, but the narrative lacked a fluidity to the story and it made for a clunky read aloud. My three year old still enjoyed it though. When I asked her what she would’ve asked the little boy to bring back from the grocery store she said she would’ve asked for a box of Lucky Charms. ;-)
August 7, 2016
I loved this picture book and the concept behind it. The art was beautiful and I absolutely loved that our main character took charge of a situation that all of the adults of the town were incapable of doing. A full review will be coming.
June 25, 2015
The author describes his experiences during the Blizzard of '78, which buried New England under more than 40 inches of snow.
January 17, 2020
Fantastic!
January 7, 2015
As he did so successfully with his previous title, Blackout, John Rocco returns to a time not too far in the distant, and manages to conjure up a distinct sense of time and place. The picture book focuses on the Blizzard of 1978 when parts of New England were buried in 40 inches of snow. At first, just about everyone is joyous as the flakes fall, and then as they drift into doorways, making it hard to move, families are resigned to simply spending lots of time together. But after a few days of this, enough is enough, and everyone is going stir crazy and longing for certain items from the grocery store. Making clever use of tennis rackets, the author sets off to get what his family and neighbors need. The illustrations, created with pencil, watercolor, and digital painting, are wonderfully detailed and sentimental, gently evoking a sense of the past. The use of gatefolds allows readers to see that, like most youngsters, the narrator did not take a straight path to the store, but made many, many stops. Most particularly appealing here is the reminder that these small moments described here are what makes life worth living and savoring. Indeed, they're what most of us remember once we have grown up and have our own families. While no one would have starved without milk or peanut butter or even cat food, it must have felt as though the author's actions were quite heroic. Having the family dog frolicking in the snow or the author/illustrator's sister licking hot chocolate from her lips as the family stretches before the fireplace adds a sense of verisimilitude to this engaging picture book, perfect for sharing during this wintery season.
June 8, 2018
Raise your and if you love it when it snows? What are some fun things you like to do when there is snow outside? What about if there was a blizzard? Who knows what a blizzard is? (response) What if it blizzard so hard that you couldn't even go out through your front door? How would you get out? Would you still want to go outside and do all those fun snow stuff?
I used this opening because most kids love playing outside when there is snow on the ground. They like making snowman and snow angels. Some will even have snowball fights! The book Blizzard by John Rocco tells a story about how it started snowing and then school was canceled. So the kids stayed home and did all the things kids love to do when it snows. But then the snow never stopped! it picked up and became a blizzard. This time the snow was so high they couldn't get out through their front door, they had to climb out through the window. They try to still play in it. Eventually, the main character who was a little boy had to figure out how he was going to help his family and neighbors get food since they started running out. He was the only one lite enough to walk on top of the snow to the neighborhood store.
I used this opening because most kids love playing outside when there is snow on the ground. They like making snowman and snow angels. Some will even have snowball fights! The book Blizzard by John Rocco tells a story about how it started snowing and then school was canceled. So the kids stayed home and did all the things kids love to do when it snows. But then the snow never stopped! it picked up and became a blizzard. This time the snow was so high they couldn't get out through their front door, they had to climb out through the window. They try to still play in it. Eventually, the main character who was a little boy had to figure out how he was going to help his family and neighbors get food since they started running out. He was the only one lite enough to walk on top of the snow to the neighborhood store.
November 28, 2018
I really liked that this story was based on a real blizzard, and based on the author's memories of those few days his family was snowed in. I loved the big fold-out map in the middle showing John's journey to the market, and the way that he stopped and took orders for his neighbors as well. I liked how the phrase "and I thought it would never stop" was paired with a half-buried stop sign. I loved the watercolor and pencil illustrations; they were very clear and full of humor. And I loved the clever ways the name of each day of the week was illustrated differently: "Monday" written on the classroom chalkboard; "Tuesday" written by a squirrel in the snow on the roof of the house; "Wednesday" is snow on the branches of the tree; "Thursday" written by a bird in the snow on the driveway; "Friday" in raisins; "Saturday" at the top of the shopping list; and "Sunday" on the street the snowplow is clearing. All in all, I thought it was a splendid book.
November 11, 2022
A fun snow tale! The next time your kids get a snow day from school, you can pull this one out. Although it might get their hopes up that the weather will turn into a blizzard for days and days ...
Ages: 4 - 8
Cleanliness: Someone says "thank heaven."
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Ages: 4 - 8
Cleanliness: Someone says "thank heaven."
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!
December 7, 2014
A fun story of adventure in extreme snow, told with fantastic details in the illustrations. The text is straightforward, but the pictures really shine. The story starts before the title page - snowy endpages, and an opening page of our young hero, yardstick in hand, getting buried by the snow. Kids in my town, who get snow days when ice is forecast, but rarely get enough snow to play in, might find this particularly exciting. I loved the days of the week worked into the illustrations, the gentle humor ("I knew we couldn't survive much longer on cocoa made with water"), and the fold-out map of the boy's epic walk to the store. There are lovely contrasts between the cool, wintry exteriors and the cozy, warm indoor scenes.
My only complaint is the paper quality - with so many white pages, you can often see through to the illustration on the other side, which just looks cheap.
My only complaint is the paper quality - with so many white pages, you can often see through to the illustration on the other side, which just looks cheap.
June 19, 2015
This book curiously would pair perfectly with the last book we read by John Rocco, Blackout. It's based on a childhood memory and highlights the magic associated with snow days and the world "shutting down". The illustrations are great, especially the large middle spread showing an aerial view of his neighborhood and his exploratory route out of it to make it to the store for supplies. I was a bit underwhelmed to see that he really only needed to go five houses down the street to get hold of the coveted supplies, but I understand that the author had to use his literary license to fit everything onto a single page. But this actually depicts a large snow storm, that really happened.
January 17, 2018
Neat story--I liked this a little better than his other book Blackout because I liked their thoughts and seeing his adventure to the store. A fun one to try in a Wintery theme for storytime. And, of course, I like that it is based on a true story.
1/13/16 Used in B is for theme. The kids were definitely mesmerized by all the things that they were experiencing. They're used to snow, but they've never seen a blizzard. I had to explain the word to them before we began. They liked to see his journey to the store. I forgot about so many speech bubbles, but I kept them in and the kids seemed to enjoy the book overall.
1/17/18 Used in B theme. Explained what a blizzard was. Pointed at the speech bubbles and changed my voice when I did those. Not as many outward reactions, but they sat still and joined in the actions I asked them to.
1/13/16 Used in B is for theme. The kids were definitely mesmerized by all the things that they were experiencing. They're used to snow, but they've never seen a blizzard. I had to explain the word to them before we began. They liked to see his journey to the store. I forgot about so many speech bubbles, but I kept them in and the kids seemed to enjoy the book overall.
1/17/18 Used in B theme. Explained what a blizzard was. Pointed at the speech bubbles and changed my voice when I did those. Not as many outward reactions, but they sat still and joined in the actions I asked them to.
October 14, 2015
This is a really fun tale based on author-illustrator John Rocco's real childhood experience of a blizzard on the east coast. The pictures are cute and gently recall the 70s era of the setting. After a week of being snowed in, the main character's spirited adventure to walk a mile with tennis rackets on his feet just to bring a few provisions home and to his neighbors feels daring but comforting at the same time--a real life adventure within reach.
September 22, 2016
Rocco brings the Blizzard of 1978 to life as he recounts his experiences...school cancelled, drinking hot cocoa, playing in the snow...and beginning to worry because they were running low on supplies but couldn't get to the store. So Rocco prepares his sleigh, checks with his neighbors and heads to town to buy supplies. I love the illustrations and love hearing this true story. It's a perfect text to use in my class right now as we study and write personal narratives.
November 26, 2017
Blizzards are yearly occurrences for anyone who lives in the frozen north, but for those who've lived in this climate more than a few years, we tend to have that one storm that stands out -- this is John Rocco's story of his experience of being snowed in for a week, written from the perspective of an adventurous young boy.
Full review here: https://www.theproblemsite.com/book-s...
Full review here: https://www.theproblemsite.com/book-s...
August 10, 2015
Another story for those who like stories about winter, especially snowstorms and blizzards. What if it snowed almost four feet!? That's what happens to the author and his family in this story? Based on an actual snowstorm from the author's childhood in 1978.
April 25, 2016
This felt like a bottom-of-the-barrel reject for a book idea. There isn't much to it. Not a fan of the illustration style.
January 22, 2017
Love this book. On my list to buy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 420 reviews